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Abstract
The breadth of architectural variation among aboriginal societies that lived within the Western Ozark Highlands is poorly understood, despite sporadic archaeological investigations conducted throughout the region. A site receiving renewed attention is the Collins site (3WA1), a possible Early to Middle Mississippian period (A.D. 900–1400) multimound site on the White River in Elkins, Arkansas. A landscape-based geomagnetic survey of Mounds B, C, D, and the surrounding area offers a preliminary distributional view of architectural features and their proposed functions, which hint at the importance of the site as a paramount mound complex associated with ritual mortuary events linking regional supporting populations. Mound-top enclosures and off-mound rectangular and possible circular structures are clearly evident in the geomagnetic data and are interpreted as large rectangular-shaped mound structures or enclosures that likely represent specialized use associated with mortuary ritual and architecture, two rectangular and one circular structure associated with the interior of a charnel house structure, and one circular and 12 rectangular off-mound structures associated with a possible centralized plaza space. Results demonstrate that a complex prehistoric settlement existed at the Collins site with the presence of subsurface archaeological features associated with Mounds B, C, and D, and throughout the off-mound survey areas.